At first, Chase Masterson comes across a lot like Leeta, the character she plays on Deep Space Nine:
sweet, generous, and a lot of fun. But get her talking about her work, and all traces of good-time Dabo
Girl vanish.

Masterson has so many projects in the works that one expects her to list juggling among her talents: in
addition to her recurring Trek role, she hosts the new show Sci-Fi Entertainment on the Sci-Fi Channel,
plus she's producing a children's show and a documentary on filmmaking. She also attends dozens of
conventions every year, even though she's a single mother raising an eleven-year-old son.

The actress is on hiatus at the moment from DS9, as she and the writers prepare for some big
changes. Terry Farrell, who plays Dax, will not be returning in the fall; moreover, because this is the final
season for the series, many plot threads need to be resolved. Though Leeta has played an increasingly
important role since she married Rom late last season, Masterson isn't sure where her character will be
when the series winds down.

"It's so sad, it really is, but I guess it's time," she says of the impending end of Deep Space Nine. "The
saddest part about it is that I'll really miss Rom!" Though kissing an actor wearing those sharp Ferengi
teeth has not been a pleasant experience for Masterson, she hopes there will be time to explore the future
of their marriage: "People are asking if we're going to have a child, and what would it be like - cleavage
with ears?" She counts many of the performers among her friends, particularly "the Ferengi crowd," and
says she's looking forward to what's in store for them even in episodes she may not appear in.

"I enjoy watching them as much as I enjoy watching myself really," the actress notes, recalling her recent
appearance on the episode "Profit and Lace" as representative of "what a blast" the work is. "It was an
all-Ferengi channel episode, with Cecily Adams who is just wonderful as Moogie, and Wally Shawn is
back [as Grand Nagus Zek]. We couldn't keep a straight face while shooting, we had so much fun - I
helped teach Quark how to be a woman. I think I have the best seat in the house when it comes to
watching their work, because Wally and Cecily and Jeffrey [Coombs, who plays Inspector Brunt] and of
course Armin [Shimerman, who plays Quark] and Max [Grodenchik, who plays Rom] are just brilliant
actors. They're different in every single take. So even when I've worked eleven hours and I'm burned out,
I stay just to watch because it's such a hoot."

Masterson credits the producers with putting this team together: "They not only cast incredibly talented
people, but ones with really great energy, and the crew also," many of whom have worked together since
Star Trek: The Next Generation. "It's really like a family, more so than any other set I've been on."

Several of her friends from Star Trek will be appearing on Sci-Fi Entertainment, which Masterson
describes as "like Entertainment Tonight, but for genre," adding that the boundaries of "sci-fi" seem to be
expanding and the term is perhaps too limited to characterize the show's scope. "We've got a group of
fans that we're referring to as 'sci-fi susceptibles' - people who don't admit that they dig science fiction,
but when you ask, 'Well, do you watch X-Files and Millennium and did you like Star Wars and
Independence Day,' the answers are yes...there are a lot of closet cases out there," she laughs, explaining
that the show aims to target both hardcore fans and casual viewers.

"There's a lot of movies that are coming out this summer, Armageddon and Deep Impact and all that,
which are not just targeting [the genre] audience," Masterson explains, suddenly sounding less like Leeta
and more like the host of an entertainment magazine. "I think that because genre is a medium where even
the sky is not the limit, we're able to attract a lot of different kinds of people - with the new millennium
coming up, we've become a more globally-minded people, and we're becoming a more universally-minded
people along with that."

The actress had no previous background in anchoring or in television news, but an executive at USA
Network had seen her on a talk show called Sci-Fi Vortex, also a news magazine show, and thought she
would make an ideal host for the new series. "I hear it came about with me in mind to begin with, which
is nice, but I did have to audition for the show, so in the final analysis I did have to earn my place there,"
Masterson notes, pointing out that Sci-Fi Vortex specialized in debates about genre issues - what makes a
good captain, women's place in science fiction - about which she had strong, vocal opinions.

The early guest list features names familiar to genre audiences - Star Trek's Jeri Ryan, Babylon 5's Walter
Koenig, Xena's Lucy Lawless and Ted Raimi - but the series will also feature actors not primarily
associated with science fiction, like Gary Oldman and Matt Leblanc (most recently of Lost in Space) and
Morgan Freeman (onscreen now in Deep Impact). The series also features segments on current
technology which would have been considered science fiction ten years ago, like a scientist who designs
robots.

"I'm learning every step of the way and loving that, because it's really about relating to people - it's more
relaxed than acting, because I kind of get to be myself," Masterson observes. "Since it is a news magazine
show, we want to be able to reach the masses, but we don't want to get too hair-and-teethy about it either
- it's a fun show and it's certainly a clean show, but we're working to make it not a slick show."

Though she didn't attend conventions, Masterson describes herself as a lifeling science fiction fan who
knows firsthand of the loyalty and devotion of genre audiences. The daughter of a theater director, she did
her first play at age five, eventually earning a B.F.A. from the University of Texas. "I wasn't a
cheerleader," she notes. "I was totally the ugly duckling, long straight hair, thick glasses, people called me
painfully shy. I was one who only bloomed onstage." A fan of Deep Space Nine well before she made her
first appearance in the episode "Explorers," she was ecstatic to be called back and eventually to become a
series regular.

"Leeta was brought in for four lines, I coughed to Dr. Bashir, and I never thought there would be any
more - I left work that day thinking that was it for me," the actress recalls. She came back in "Facets" as
a past-life host of Dax's, and was called back again first as a potential romantic interest for Bashir and
then for Rom. Though the character was initially written as a stereotypical "Dabo Girl" - one of the
women who serve drinks and please the male patrons of Quark's Bar - Masterson was impressed with the
rapid development of the character into someone with depth and insight.

"I love that Leeta started out as a primarily sensual being, and has evolved into someone with a lot going
on on the inside - look who I married! I'm no bimbo!" she exclaims. "I broke up with the cute doctor with
the English accent to marry the scary guy. I think that demonstrates that sexy is as sexy does, and if he's
got it together on the inside, that translates on the out. And in turn, Rom has become such a capable,
confident being, because that's what love does to people. We've got it going in all the important ways;
Quark can say what he wants."

So being the object of male leering doesn't bother her? "For me, I guess, maybe because I was a really late
bloomer, I think it's fun getting to be smart and sexy and capable and sensual, you know? I think those are
great qualities to have combined," she muses, observing that Xena is pulling no punches even though she
is also, by network standards, "a babe."

Masterson adds that she loves idea of a Bajoran Dabo girl because the Bajorans have been characterized as
a centered, spiritual group of people, "and Leeta by virtue of who she is breaks all the rules, wearing the
clothes and the makeup." As to the imlpications that these girls erization could almost describe Masterson
herself, though she comes across considerably less obtuse than Leeta, particularly during her convention
appearances where she has raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity this year alone. "I really do
enjoy conventions, for a lot of different reasons," she notes. "I figured, let's get out there and meet the
people - I know fan support is one reason I'm still on the show, but deeper than that now, because things
are pretty secure and I've got Sci-Fi Entertainment, there are some really sweet, wonderful people all over
the world whom I know now, and fundraising is the greatest part of all of this - getting to be in a public
position to help the littlest victims, and to encourage other people to."

Caring For Babies With AIDS is Masterson's principal charity. Her fan club raised over $7000 for them
recently through a club auction, but fan club president Michele Hemming (KaiMichele@aol.com) notes
that Chase herself raised over $10,000 personally and donated more of her own money to the group.
Masterson insists that this is the most important aspect of her public life.

"Seven years ago, when I was new in town, I went to work for a photographer on a book to benefit
children with AIDS. I would have to leave my car running because that was the only way I could use it - I
couldn't get it to start again if I turned it off - I was really a starving actress, I ended up having to quit.
How great is it that I can come back to Caring For Babies With AIDS and bring all these people who want
to make donations!" she exclaims.

In addition, Masterson feels strongly that she owes something to her fans. "When somebody drives ten
and a half hours on a regular basis to see you at a convention, that's not fandom, that's friend-dom," she
notes, adding that she has never felt encroached-upon and shaking her head that her fans still call her "Ms.
Masterson" even after they sit at tables volunteering all day to help with the fundraising. "I'm well aware
that this is just a job I do; we all have our places and we all need each other equally, they just don't sign
autographs. I love the connection with the audience - you can transport people from a crappy day at work
to where they can get back to themselves, get them inspired to hug their kids or just be a little more patient
with work the next day. I'm one of the people who gets to bring that to the world, it's like a ministry. It's
nice to be able to say 'It's so nice to meet you' and give people back that validation."

Finally, conventions have given Masterson valuable career opportunities. As a result of a convention which
she did for free just for the exposure, she met the editor of Sci Fi Universe, and through that meeting
landed on the cover of the magazine. At another charity convention for which she did not get paid,
Masterson came into contact with a friend of Majel Barrett Roddenberry's who was interested in adopting
a child with AIDS. As a result of her work on the friend's behalf, Roddenberry's assistant thought to ask
Masterson whether she would be interested in appearing on Roddenberry's talk show...which was Sci-Fi
Vortex, the show which brought Masterson to the attention of the Sci-Fi Universe producers.

"My work ethic has been that I'll do pretty much whatever I need to do - I'm not afraid of hard work, and
if I hadn't gone to these two conventions for nothing, I wouldn't have met these people. It's good for
everyone to keep in mind that hard work pays off." So long as she can take her son with her, Masterson is
willing to travel a great deal, though she laughs that her son has taken to trading autographed photos of her
for Spawn action figures. "They're making a dressable and undressable nine-inch Leeta, and my son will
be in seventh grade next year," she laughs nervously. "Already with the little five-inch action figure, it's
like, 'Is this your mom? Cool! Is she coming to pick you up?'"

The hours can be exhausting, however. The weekend of the DS9 wrap party, Masterson worked all day
Thursday from seven o'clock in the morning until a little after midnight, then went to the party which
ended after midnight. She worked all day Friday on a project she's producing, took the redeye to
Pittsburgh, did a convention there all day Saturday and Sunday, only to get home and discover that her
son had a sleepover guest and they wanted pancakes for breakfast. "All I wanted to do was cry and sleep,
not necessarily in that order, but there we were washing the car, all the car washes were closed so I went
to this self-car wash, and I had to buy a pan because I didn't have a pan to make pancakes," she sighs.

The actress is working on several "passion projects" which she is producing and has no expectations of
performing in, one of which is a documentary on the art and business of filmmaking. "We have a
two-time Academy Award-winner directing, Barbara Koppel. I think women directing and producing is a
great thing, I think the face of entertainment is changing now that that is happening more." Masterson has
also optioned a couple of movies of the week, and her most recent pet project is an animated children's
series called Manboy, "about a fourteen-year-old kid, tall and gangly with red hair, who is in the throes of
adolescence and just doesn't know what to do with himself. It's irreverent and really fun and sensitive at
the same time. There's no sex, not in reference, not on camera - these kids are role models."